Anadolu staff
09 May 2024•Update: 09 May 2024
JERUSALEM
Israeli protesters on Thursday blocked humanitarian aid trucks on their way to the besieged Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media.
Protesters hindered the movement of the aid trucks in Mitzpe Ramon near Eilat in southern Israel for several hours, the Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported.
Demonstrators demanded the release of 130 Israelis held captive by Hamas for allowing the entry of aid into the besieged enclave, KAN said.
A similar protest was staged in the same area on Wednesday.
The protest came as indirect talks between Hamas and Israel for a Gaza cease-fire and hostage swap resumed in Egypt on Thursday.
Hamas said on Monday evening that it had accepted a Gaza cease-fire proposal drawn by Egypt and Qatar.
But Israel said the truce offer accepted by Hamas did not meet its key demands and decided to push ahead with an operation in Rafah in southern Israel in order to apply what it said "military pressure on Hamas with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims.”
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which killed about 1,200 people. More than 34,900 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and 78,500 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Over seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar
